Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality and value of maternity care through consumer engagement and health system transformation. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families. Evidence-based maternity care means using the best research about the safety and effectiveness of specific tests, treatments, and interventions to help you make informed decisions.

Our evidence-based information, guidance, and support will show you how to maintain and enhance your health and the health of your baby. You will learn to use this information to make informed decisions. Your choices, when based on the best available research and your values and preferences, can lead to a healthy birth outcome, a strong and connected family, and a confident approach to parenthood.

Childbearing Women Are The Most Important Stakeholders to Drive Change

Inside For Women

Message to pregnant women: the U.S. maternity care system falls short in many ways. Care that is routinely provided may not be in the best interest of you and your baby. Learn why you have the right and responsibility to learn and make wise choices. This is likely to be hard work, with a big pay-off.Go to Understanding & Navigating the Maternity Care System

Pregnancy Topics are in-depth reviews of major maternity issues. Each Pregnancy Topic contains an overview, a discussion of your options, a summary of results of the best available research about the safety and effectiveness of these options, and tips and tools that can help with your decision. Go to Pregnancy Topics

The week-by-week development of your baby inside of your body is an amazing process. View the progression of your pregnancy at milestone weeks, adapted from The Growing Uterus Charts.Go to Your Growing Body & Baby: Pictures

This landmark report highlights best evidence that, if widely implemented, would have a positive impact on many mothers and babies and would improve value for payers. The report also identifies barriers to providing evidence-based maternity care, and presents policy recommendations to address the barriers.Go to Milbank Report: Evidence-Based Maternity Care

Childbirth Connection's landmark national Listening to Mothers surveys are valuable resources for understanding and improving women's childbearing experiences. They focus the discussion on views of those who care most about maternity issues: mothers themselves.Go to Listening to Mothers

In their own words, thousands of mothers who participated in our Listening to Mothers surveys told us about their best and worst experiences while giving birth — and anything else they wanted to tell us about their maternity experience. Read the vivid and moving stories, observations, and opinions that bring their experiences to life. Go to Quotes from Mothers

The Rights of Childbearing Women brochure outlines a set of basic maternity rights that Childbirth Connection has identified and promotes for all childbearing women. Go to The Rights of Childbearing Women

A comprehensive list organized by subject of recommended resources. If you've read about an issue in Pregnancy Topics or Stages of Pregnancy and you are ready to take action, you may find an organization, book, website, or journal article here to help you with your decision.Go to Best Pregnancy Resources A-Z

You have sifted through so many pregnancy books, but which do you choose to read? We have listed all of our favorite books, organized by subject. These are pregnancy books that share our philosophy on pregnancy, labor and birth. Where available, we've linked them to Amazon so if you'd like to purchase them right away.Go to Recommended Pregnancy Books

Founded in 1918, Childbirth Connection has joined forces with and become a core program of the National Partnership for Women & Families. Together, these two women's health powerhouses are transforming maternity care in the United States.

News and Features

Featured Resource

Check out our resource, "Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing: Evidence and Implications for Women, Babies, and Maternity Care"Read more

Special Announcement

Childbirth Connection has joined forces with and become a core program of the National Partnership for Women & Families. Read more